Decadent Hummingbird Cupcakes

Happy New Year to all my beloved readers. I wish you all a joyful and peaceful year ahead. Today I’m going to blog about a moist, flavorful and decadent cupcake recipe. Do not expect anything healthy because it’s loaded with butter, sugar and calories. And that makes hummingbird cake absolutely delicious! Usually when I see a recipe I always think about the healthy modifications I can make but not for this one.

The reason for the name Hummingbird cake is not known but one guess is the cake is as sweet as the nectar a hummingbird would like to feed on. And that’s absolutely true because these cupcakes are very sweet. I saw this recipe for Hummingbird cake here when I was looking for recipes using banana.

Egg-Free Hummingbird Cupcakes Recipe

This is a special occasion cupcake recipe. The cake flour gives a light and fluffy texture while the bananas, applesauce and pineapple makes the cupcakes very moist and flavorful.

Ingredients – PART 1:

1 cupbutter, softened

2 cupswhite sugar

1/2 cupunsweetened applesauce

1/4 cupplain yogurt(I used 2%)

2 teaspoonsvanilla extract

1 teaspoonapple cider vinegar

Ingredients – PART 2:

2 cupsmashed bananas

1/2 cupcrushed pineapple, drained

Ingredients – PART 3:

3 cupscake flour

1 teaspoonbaking soda

1/2 teaspoonbaking powder

1 teaspooncinnamon, ground

1/2 teaspoonsalt

Ingredients – PART 4:

1 cupflaked coconut, unsweetened

1 and 3/4 cupstoasted and chopped pecans

FROSTING INGREDIENTS:

1 package (8 ounces)cream cheese (I used light)

1/2 cupbutter, softened

3-3/4 cupsconfectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoonvanilla extract

Procedure for Cupcake:

Preheat oven to 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Line two 12 cup muffin tins with paper liners. While the oven is heating, place the pecans on a cookie sheet and toast it in the oven for 5-7 minutes, stirring it once or twice in the middle. Stay alert so that the pecans don’t burn. After about 6 or 7 minutes, remove the sheet out of the oven and let the nuts cool. Coarsely chop the nuts and set aside.

In a smaller bowl combine together the mashed bananas and crushed pineapple. While mashing the bananas you can add a tablespoon of water or milk to make the mashing easier. In a medium size bowl stir together the Part 3 dry ingredients and set aside.

In another large bowl cream together the butter and sugar using an electric beater. Stir in the applesauce, yogurt, vanilla extract and vinegar. Beat it for another 2 minutes. The mixture will look curdled, but don’t worry about that.

Now add the fruit mixture and flour mix alternately, mixing well after each addition. Do not use the mixer for this. A spatula or wooden spoon is just enough.

Once the batter comes along well, stir in the coconut and 1 cup of pecans and mix until just combined.

Scoop out 1/4th-1/3rd cup of batter in each muffin cup. I used a standard size ice cream scoop for this and it was perfect.

Bake it for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cupcake comes out clean. I tested just after 20 minutes and it was done. Do not over-bake it because the cupcakes will not be moist and you will end up with dry cupcakes. Cool it completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Procedure for Frosting:

In a medium size bowl cream together the cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add vanilla extract and confectioner’s sugar 1 cup at a time and beat until smooth.

Frost the cupcakes and top it with the balance 3/4th cup of toasted and chopped pecans. (See My Notes)

My Notes:

You can very well reduce the quantity of sugar by 1/4-1/2 cup, especially if you are going to frost the cupcakes. We use a lot of bananas and the pineapple also adds to the sugar content.

The original hummingbird cake recipe had used all-purpose flour but I chose to go with cake flour because we are not using eggs and it did definitely pay off. The cupcakes had an amazing texture. So I don’t know if the cupcakes would turn out so light and fluffy with all-purpose flour.

The next time I bake this cake, I’m going to omit the coconut. Everybody else loved the flavor of the cupcakes but I personally would prefer a coconut free version.

The recipe for cream cheese frosting makes a LOT of frosting. Maybe it’s just me, because we do not prefer very sweet stuff. I did not frost all the 24 cupcakes but even if I had, I still would have leftover frosting unless and otherwise I slather the cupcakes with all the frosting. I frosted about 12 cupcakes but I did not go overboard with it. So I think it depends upon how much you use per cupcake. But no worries, cream cheese frosting keeps good for 2-3 months in the refrigerator, which I found out while making this vegan pumpkin roll.

Hi Madhuram, Thank you so much for your amazing egg-free information! Sorry to ask a question about this recipe so far after you posted this, but which ingredients were used as egg substitutes? Just the applesauce or was it the applesauce combined with the yogurt? I’m wanting to substitute eggs in Martha Stewart’s hummingbird cake that I make into cupcakes for my daughter’ birthday every year. Now that I know I can’t digest eggs, I want to be able to eat them! Thank you so much for any insights you can provide. http://www.marthastewart.com/256215/hummingbird-cupcakes

You’re welcome Elisabeth. Yes I have used unsweetened applesauce and yogurt as egg substitutes. I checked Martha’s recipe and it also uses 3 eggs which can be replaced with 1/4 cup applesauce and 1/2 cup yogurt. Pureed silken tofu instead of applesauce is also fine.

I make this recipe often. Using mini cupcake papers, I get around 78 minis. Because I was only feeding a few, last time, I cut recipe by half, but by accident, cut butter by 4 (1/4 cup) and recipe came out just fine. Crumb was tender and held together nicely. I also brushed tops of cupcakes with butter and sprinkled decorative sugar over before baking. Gave a nice crusty top that sparkled. Was a little less sweet without the cream cheese icing which suited the older crowd I was feeding.

[…] I already have and found that banana cake and cupcake was missing, if I don’t include the hummingbird cupcake which is a blend of lot of flavors including banana, coconut and pineapple and the vegan chocolate […]

I am hoping to use this as a birthday cake- maybe two 9″ rounds stacked- do you think it would work or is it likely to fall apart like so many egg free cakes? Your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks! Do I just line the bottom of the pan and then grease the sides? That would be my guess… I can let them cool 1 hour or more before turning- I will be making the cake the day before the party. Thank you!

That’s right Justine. Lightly grease the sides. Since you are using parchment paper the cakes comes off easily in as little as 20 minutes. Also keep in mind that the baking time will vary because you are using a different size pan.

Dear Madhu,
How are you? Happy New Year & thank you very much for the wishes.
Humming bird cup cake look so delicious & yummy. I am going to try this for my G. daughter’s birthday on 8th. Want to make more to give for all her friends. Thank you so much for this eggless recipe dear.